A brassiere, which is a typical garment with the back cloth, is generally composed of left and right cup cloths, an under cup cloth to be sewn to a lower end portion of the cup cloths, left and right back cloths to be fitted and fixed to an area from the underarm part through the back part, and straps.
The brassiere composed of the above-mentioned parts can be put on and off by engaging and disengaging hooks with eyes. The hooks and the eyes are sewn onto tape fabric materials which are relatively thick and which are provided separately from the backcloths. That is, to an end portion of one back cloth, the tape fabric material provided with eyes which are arranged in a plurality of lines at constant intervals is sewn, and a hook tape fabric material provided with hooks to be engaged with the eyes is sewn to an end portion of the other back cloth. The hooks and the eyes are engaged and disengaged to enable the brassiere to be put on and off.
A tape provided with the eyes is provided with covering cloths for hiding an attachment base of the eyes, the eyes being arranged in three rows, which are an upper row, a middle row, and a lower row in order to allow an adjustment according to a size of a bust of a wearer when the brassiere is to be worn. The covering cloth for the upper row is sewn onto a surface of a base cloth tape, the covering cloth for the middle row is sewn onto the covering cloth for the upper row, and the covering cloth for the lower row is sewn onto the covering cloth for the middle row. By changing a position of the eyes with which the hooks are engaged or disengaged, a fastening level can be adjusted, and an eye tape that increases in thickness toward the lower row is commonly known (see, for example, JP 2002-28009 A).
The above-mentioned eye tape is made thick by overlapping a plurality of covering cloths, thereby requiring a preparation for facilitating sewing such as a creasing process prior to a sewing operation, which takes time and effort, and only a skilled person can perform the sewing operation. Further, a sewing thread used in sewing by a sewing machine appears on front and back surfaces of the tape, resulting in that contact of the sewing thread with skin provides an uncomfortable feeling, or that contact of a concave and a convex generated on a surface of the sewing thread causes skin disorders and an itch in some cases. Moreover, in a case of wearing a thin outerwear, there is a problem in that a bulge of the thick part appears on an outer surface of the wear, thereby deteriorating an appearance.
As means for eliminating such a defect, there is known a hook/eye tape of a type in which hooks/eyes are attached to a relatively thin tape fabric materials and the thin tape fabric materials are joined to the back cloth by thermal welding using a thermal adhesive film without being sewn thereto. The sewing thread does not appear on the outer surface of the hook/eye tape by sewing, so the hook/eye tape provides an excellent appearance and does not provide a feeling of stiffness with the thick material or uncomfortable feeling of wearing. Accordingly, the hook/eye tape has a good reputation (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3104261).